In the wake of nearly 9,400 TNReady tests incorrectly scored, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell is calling for a hearing on the state's testing issues.

Harwell, R-Nashville, said the high number of TNReady tests "scored incorrectly has resulted in educators, parents, and legislators seeking answers.

"In addition, the amount of testing has also raised questions," said Harwell, who also is seeking the 2018 Republican gubernatorial nomination.

The problems represent just the latest in a series of high-profile issues tied to the rollout of the Tennessee Department of Education's TNReady testing.

In the first year of the test, students were unable to take the exams online due to issues with the vendor's servers. The state then switched to paper exams and canceled the test for middle and elementary students when the company couldn't deliver enough paper copies.

The department then switched to a new testing company. But that firm was unable to grade some of the exams in time for results to appear on student report cards in many districts this year.

Harwell has assigned the House Government Operations Committee to handle the hearing, a move that its chairman said is meant to send a strong message to the education department.

The government operations committee allows the legislature to weigh in on any new rules for government agencies.

"I hope the education department is taking this seriously. Teachers and students throughout the state are sick of burdensome testing and, now, two years in a row that burdensome testing has failed," said Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, and the chairman of the committee.

Government operations committee member Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, said the hearing is a good first step, but just the start.

"We already know there is a huge problem, the hearing is the right first step to determine what other problems exists," Stewart said. "It's going to take more than a hearing. It's going to take a lengthy investigation."

Other hearings to be held

Meanwhile, the House Education Committee will add the TNReady testing issues to its agenda, said Rep. Eddie Smith, R-Knoxville.

“I’ve spent my weekend on the phone more than I wanted to, trying to figure out what happened,” Smith said. “Not to be discounted on the percentage of who is affected, but it didn’t affect every single student took those tests in those subjects. From what I understand — and again, we’ve had very high-level conversations and not actually gotten to drill down into why, who, what, when and where, which will happen next week — but the department of education actually caught the issue.

“When you give 1.9 million tests in a school year, you shoot for 100 percent accuracy, realizing there’s probably going to be some errors and you work to fix those errors as quickly as possible. “

Rep. Roger Kane, R-Knoxville, who is also on the education committee, said he is “disappointed” in the errors, but his confidence in the state’s ability to administer the tests is not shaken.

“Yes, it’s disappointing that 9,400 were graded wrong, but we’re fortunate that we caught it before someone is explaining to their mom why they didn’t do so well when it had nothing to do with their ability and everything to do with ours,” Kane said. “I would have loved for it all to be perfect, but as we work through the kinks with any problems, we’re going to be on better footing going forward.”

More than one problem this year for the state

The problems in recent weeks were two-fold.

About 9,400 TNReady tests across the state were scored incorrectly, with about 1,700 of those tests affecting student proficiency scores.

The tests that were scored incorrectly were in three high school subjects: English I, English II and Integrated Math II.

In the 2016-17 school year, 600,000 year-end high school TNReady tests were taken, and a Tennessee Department of Education spokeswoman has said the number of incorrectly scored tests represent a small number of the 1.9 million taken statewide across all grades.

Teachers were also affected by the scoring issues, with about 230 educators statewide seeing changes in their TVAAS scores, the measure by which the state evaluates teacher performance.

In addition to the scoring issues, almost 1,700 teachers in 62 districts were affected by the state having incorrect classroom rosters. Those rosters are used to assign student tests to teachers.

The state said about 900 of those teachers might see changes in their overall TVAAS scores. Exact numbers weren't immediately available, but about 240 of those teachers are in Nashville.

The problems are tied to the state's testing vendor

Last week, the Tennessee Department of Education's spokeswoman said problems stemmed from the vendor incorrectly updating its scanning software. The software issues also caused the delay of test results for report cards after the school year.

The state's vendor, Questar Assessment, took full responsibility on Friday for the issues and a spokesman for the company said they are making fixes.

"We are putting in additional steps in our processes to prevent any future occurrence," a statement from Chief Operating Officer Brad Baumgartner said. "We are in the process of producing revised reports and committed to doing so as quickly as possible."

Students across the state took the year-end tests in the spring. The tests factor into students' individual grades and are part of how the state holds schools and districts accountable.

Another year of TNReady problems

This is the first year students in grades 3-8 have taken the TNReady test after the state's previous vendor failed to launch an online test for the state. The vendor was then unable to deliver to districts testing materials for elementary and middle school grades.

Only high schools were able to take the test.

The state fired its vendor, Measurement Inc., shortly after the issues. It hired Questar Assessment last summer under a two-year, $30 million-per-year contract.

Faison said millions of dollars are being poured into testing and its imperative that the state get it right, especially when its meant to hold both teachers and schools accountable.

"Last year, the test failed, and this year it wasn’t a complete failure but there were issues," Faison said. "I want to know why we can't get this right. I'm not interested in blaming companies. I want to know what we are doing as state.

"Tennessee, through its taxpayers, spends millions on testing. What are we doing wrong and are we not demanding enough?"

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.